Rava masala Idli      
                        (Cream of wheat and sooji Idli)

Rava Masala idli is spicy and delicious. It is an easy way to make regular plain idlies interesting, they are not only for breakfast but they are absolutely wonderful for snack. Rava masala idli batter is made by mixing Rava (sooji, cream of wheat) with yogurt and red chili, curry leaves, cashews, urad and chana dal and mustard seeds and asafetida tadka is added to the batter to make the idlis spicy and flavorful, then this batter is steamed in Idli making molds. Rava idlis are soft fluffy and very tempting to look at they taste great with sambhar and coconut chutney. Masala rava idli is easy and quick to prepare then traditional rice and lentils idlis, because the idli batter does not require overnight fermentation.

Ingredients:
 
2    Cups of rava (Sooji, cream of wheat)
1    Cup of plain yogurt (savor yogurt 
      preferred)
3    Tablespoons vegetable oil
1     Cup of water or as required
      (depending on the consistency of 
      yogurt) 
1    Teaspoon chana dal
1    Teaspoon urad dal
2    Tablespoon broken cashew nuts or
       cashew halfs
4    Curry leaves –break them into small 
      pieces 
2    Whole dry red chili – break them into 
       small pieces
1    Teaspoon mustard seeds
1    Pinch of asafetida (Hing)
1    Teaspoon salt or to your taste
2    Teaspoons ENO salt

Makes about 32 Idlies

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                Rava
  Sooji (Cream of wheat)

Chana dal, Urad dal, Curry leaves, red chilies and  
               cashews

Utensils for Steaming Idlis:

 1.  Idly stand - Stand has 4 plates stacked over each other.

 2.  A pot with a lid that is large enough to hold idly stand, or idly steamer. (Idli
      cooker comes with idly stand)     

Large pot

Idly stand

Idly cooker

Direction:
 1. Soak Chana Dal and Urad Dal in water.

2.   Heat a nonstick frying pan and dry roast the rava for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring
      constantly. Do not brown the rava. 

3. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and mix it well with rava.

Dry roast rava (cream of wheat)

Add oil and mix it well

4. Transfer the rava into a bowl and add salt and mix.

5. In a cup add yogurt and  beat it with the spoon until it become smooth.

6. Pour the yogurt over the rava and mix it well. 

Add yogurt in Rava

Mix yogurt in Rava

7. Add water little at a time and mix it with Rava batter. The mixture should have
   a thick consistency.

8. Cover the bowl and keep it in a warm place to ferment for 2 to 3 hour or longer.

Add water in the batter and mix

Cover the bowel & place it in warm place

9.  Once batter is fermented and you are ready to make idli's prepare seasoning.

10.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan on medium heat, add cashews and fry them until they are golden brown. keep them aside.

Shallow fry cashew nuts

Cashew’s are fried

11. In the same pan add mustard seeds and asafetida and fry them for 1 to 2
      minutes or until mustard seed start splattering.  

11. Add pieces of curry leaves and red chilies and sauté until they become light
      brown.  

Fry mustard seeds & asafetida

Sautee red chilies and curry leaves

12. Add soaked Urad dal Chana Dal and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the
     stove off.

Add soaked dal's and sauté

Consistency of the batter

13.  Transfer fried seasoning into fermented batter and mix. At this point if
       batter becomes thick as sooji absorbs the water, you can add a little water,
       the consistency of the batter should be thick.

14.  Now prepare the steamer for steaming the idlis.  

15.  In a large pot or idly cooker add about 1” of water and bring it to boil. 

Add seasoning in the batter & mix

In a pot boil the water

 16.  Grease the idly  trays with a drop of oil and rub it around.

17. Put fried cashew nuts in the center of each Idli mold.

Grease the Idli trays

Put fried cashew in each idli mold

 18.  When ready to pour the batter in the idly trays add ENO fruit salt and  sprinkle 2 teaspoon of water over the fruit salt, the bubble will start forming, with the spoon mix gently, the batter will start rising. (Add ENO salt in the amount of batter you are going to use at a time) 

Add ENO fruit salt in the batter

ENO fruit salt start foaming

 19.  With a spoon drop some batter on the idly maker trays, do not fill it up to the top leave some room for them to expand.

Sprinkle water over ENO fruit salt

With the spoon drop batter in the Idli molds

20.  Stack the idli trays in the stand.

21.  When stacking the idly maker trays alter the holes of idly stand, the tray wholes should not be right on the top of another.

22.  Immediately place the idly maker stand in the pot or idly cooker, with boiling water, close the lid of the cooker or cover the pot.

Fill the Idli trays & stack them

Place the idli stand in the steamer

Cover the pot

Idlis are cooked and expanded

23. In about 7 to 8 minutes cooker will start steaming, then let the idli's cook for 7 to 8 minutes, turn the heat off. If steaming idlis in the pot then after steam start coming let them cook  for 10 to 12 minutes.

24. Open the idli cooker and take a tooth pick and insert in an idli to see if they are cooked, if the tooth pick come out clean it means idli is cooked. Take the idli stand out of the idli cooker or the pot.

25.  Let  the idli's cool down, then take a butter knife or a plastic knife and insert  in the edges of idli and loose them up, then insert the knife under  the idli and take it out from the stand. Repeat until you take all the idly out.

26.   Clean the idly maker and grease it, before you make other batch of idli.
 
27.  Serve the idly's with sambhar and coconut chutney.

With the tooth pick check the Idli’s

Insert the knife to loose the Idil’s

ENO Fruit salt

Tips:

1. The amount of water for the batter is depends on the yogurt. If the yogurt is
     thick it requires more water if yogurt is watery then it require less water. 

2. The idli batter has to be fermented otherwise you won’t get good Idly's.

3. If you do not have savor yogurt then just use regular yogurt but
    you would not have savor taste.

4.  ENO fruit salt could be purchased from any Indian grocery
      store.  

5.    If you want to prepare Idlie's in batches then prepare batter
       without adding ENO salt and divide it into two equal portions.
       Add ENO salt in one portion and mix and pour immediately
       into greased idli mold trays and steam. When first batch is 
       steamed  add ENO salt in the other portion and follow the
       same  process.


Please take the time to let me know what you think about my recipe. Your comments would be helpful to me to improve the recipe.

Thank you     

Geeta Seth

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Other recipes:

 Idli                                                                                 Coconut chutney

Sooji ka dokhla 
(Cream of what or sooji dokhla)                                 Rava idli

Dosa                                                                         Upma (cream of wheat with    
                                                                                                      Green peas)  
                  
 Sambhar                                                Uthappam with sooji (cream of wheat)

Moong dal dokhla                                  Poha with green peas

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